Script Writing: Beats and Arcs. Think of storytelling like a song. Notice a song as a beat, a rhythm. It is the same with stories. A beat in a story is one of the notes of the story. So the interaction between this character and that character. A lot of different scripts would have each scene be a beat. That is how Broken Brotherhood is broken up. Each beat was each scene. However, In The Song the entire interaction, 3:35 of it, is one beat. Within that beat a writer must build tension. A writer should consider each beat to be a mini story in and of itself. It should have a story structure as well, there should be drama and conflict in each beat to keep the story going. If there is a scene in a script that is just “filler” then the writer is doing the audience a disservice. Every beat must matter and must further the story line. A writer also needs to make the characters in the beat interesting for the actor and actress. Give them something to display to the audience to demonstrate abilities as a thespian. A writer will do this by including character arcs. Characters arcs are where the characters has a change in emotions. In The Song we see that Cala goes through several arcs. She starts cool and collected, then confused, then defiant, then scared for her life. Ligeria has even more arcs because of her disposition as a 4000 year old being. This was all packed within 3 minutes and 30 seconds and it allowed the actresses to play with their characters and how they would portray them. Character arcs give the audience the emotional rollercoaster that allows them to feel like they are going on a journey of discovery with the character. The more variation in a character, the more the audience will identify with that character. There are a few notable cases where the character lacks convincing arcs between emotions due to their character’s motivations. A great example is The Devil Wears Prada. Meryl Streep’s character cries once during the movie which finally humanizes her. The playwright did this on purpose to keep her at arm’s length through most of the film to make the audience feel okay about hating her. Finally we see she is human and we as the audience feel sad for her because we see it is all a facade that she puts up because the barriers around her heart. I caution novice writers from trying these type of tricks because more often than not the character comes off as one dimensional, cold and callous. #BlackCloudMotionPictures #TheSong #Filmmaking #ScriptWriting https://youtube/watch?v=PYx0I2DT8IQ&list=UUoFU448Myk-MZPOuHPrITqQ
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 17:11:40 +0000
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